This Week on DVD / Blu-ray: June 18-24, 2013: JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

Notable releases for this week include: Jack the Giant Slayer, Stoker, The Last Exorcism, Part II, The Howling,and Lifeforce.

Jack the Giant Slayer comes stomping into the home entertainment theater this week. It is available as a 1-disc DVD with Digital Copy (SRP $28.98) and a 3-disc 3-D Blu-ray set with 3D BD, BD, DVD, DC, and UV Copy (SRP $44.95). The Warner Bros. Release comes in a slipcover in original pressing and features a 2.40:1 aspect ratio versus the original. 2.39:1 for the theatrical release. A young farmhand Jack accidentally opens a portal to the world of giants unwittingly unleashing them upon his kingdom. He is forced to fight for his people and rise to be the legendary warrior he only dreamed he could be.

Park Chan-Wook‘s Stoker hits the shelves this week. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman,and Matthew Goode, the film marks the director’s English-language debut. Park Chan-Wooktook inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock‘s Shadow of a Doubt for his taut suspense piece; it is a marked departure from his earlier works in the Vengeance Trilogy. Stoker has an SRP of $29.99 for the single disc Blu-ray with Digital Copy and UltraViolet Copy. The single-disc DVD retails for $22.98.

Sony Pictures recycles its old standard fare to give us yet another helping of The Last Exorcism, Part II. Survivor Nell (Ashley Bell) struggles to put her life back together after her previous possession and subsequent commitment to a psych ward. Predictably, she is again possessed by a demon and must struggle to reclaim her body and soul. The single Blu-ray disc does not come with any digital downloads—which may be a good thing if you like your horror complex and original. (BD SRP $25.99 and DVD $30.99)

Scream! Factory is streeting two cult classic spine chillers this week. The Howling (1981) tells the story of a self-help commune housing carnivorous werewolves. It is full of gags and not-so-subtle jabs at the psychiatric community’s positions at the time. The Howling is An American Werewolf in London on psychedelic drugs. The Blu-ray comes in English audio with English subtitles and has an SRP of $29.93.

According to Twilight, if you have werewolves, you’ve got to have vampires. Lifeforce(1985) delivers with a story of vampires from outer space who invade London to literally suck the life out of it. Starring Mathilde May, Peter Firth, and Patrick Stewart, the film is based on Colin Wilson‘s novel The Space Vampires. John Dykstra‘s special effects were cutting edge for the time, and director Tobe Hooper, himself, oversaw the restoration for this release. Lifeforce has a SRP of $29.93 for the newly-released 2-disc Blu-ray set and $26.66 for the DVD (previously available).

Other notable releases include:

Safety Last!

Pusher (2012)

Marketa Lazarova: the Criterion Collection

Quartet

The Brass Teapot

Of Human Bondage (Kino Classics Remastered Edition)

Experience Montreaux

One Touch of Venus

Great Zebra Exodus

No

Dead Souls

Young Tiger/Eagle Shadow Fist

Things to Come

Dino King

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